Shaping up your finances in 2017 may seem like a big goal, perhaps even too daunting. But if you take one small step at a time, these small steps will add up. Here are a few suggestions to help you get started.
Shift out of automatic. Have you established automatic bill pay at your bank or service provider, or automatic charges to your credit card?
Small step: Look for payments for goods or services you no longer use, such as recurring monthly subscriptions, and cancel them.
Big goal: Reduce total expenses and increase savings.
Take the urgency out of emergency. Sure, you know that having an account with enough funds specifically earmarked for emergencies is a good idea. But the amount you need to save seems overwhelming. The good news is you don’t have to immediately fund six months of living expenses.
Small step: Set up a separate account with automatic deposits of $5 or $10 per paycheck, perhaps with funds you’ve redirected from those unused recurring monthly subscriptions.
Big goal: Build an emergency fund with enough cash to cover six months of expenses.
Give yourself credit. Maybe you intend to pay off your credit card debt. But do you have a plan? Knowing where you stand is the first step in getting to where you want to be.
Small step: Make a list of your cards, the balances, the minimum payments, and the interest rates.
Big goal: Eliminate finance charges by being able to pay off your balance each month.
Retire your excuses. Does your employer offer a retirement plan? If so, you may be leaving money on the table.
Small step: Find out what amount is on offer as “matching” funds. That’s money your employer will add to your account when you make contributions.
Big goal: Maximize your retirement contributions.
Small steps can lead to big improvements in your financial well-being. Contact us for more tips that make it easy to get into great financial shape, one step at a time.
